LINEAGE
Our gratitude for what They have taught us is immeasurable. We have been fortunate to receive instruction directly from many extraordinary Teachers in this life, including:
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SHARON GANNON – TRIPURA SUNDARI
Sharon has studied yoga since 1976 and is a renowned teacher around the globe. She is also a dancer, a musician, an author, a producer, and outspoken advocate of animal rights. Sharon brings a rare blend of scholarly study, artistic pursuits and a highly disciplined asana and meditation practice to her offerings as a teacher. Together with Life, she has written Jivamukti Yoga: Practices for Liberating Body and Soul and The Art of Yoga.
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DAVID LIFE – DEVA DAS
David has taught yoga for twenty years. He spent several years as a sannyas (renunciate) of a lineage of yogic monks in India. He has received Kalachakra and Bodhisattva initiation from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. His interest in yoga is supported by his artistic, literary and metaphysical studies. He imbues his classes with metaphor, musicality and spirituality, spiced with humor, vigor and spontaneity. He is considered to be a “teacher’s teacher” and he is a respected, popular, and in-demand teacher around the globe.
jivamuktiyoga.com
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GESHE MICHAEL ROACH
Geshe Michael Roach (born December 17, 1952) is the first American to have been awarded the degree of Geshe, or Master of Buddhism, after more than 20 years of study in Tibetan monasteries. He has used this training to become a prominent international teacher, businessman, philanthropist, author, educator, public speaker, textual scholar, and musician. Geshe Michael graduated with honors from Princeton University and has received the Presidential Scholar Medal from the President of the United States at the White House.
In 1981 he helped found Andin International Diamond Corporation and bring it to annual sales of over $100 million, donating his profits to international aid projects. His book about achieving business and personal success through generosity, The Diamond Cutter, has become a global bestseller in 20 languages. He is the founder of the Asian Classics Institute, Diamond Mountain University, the Asian Classics Input Project, Worldview, the Yoga Studies Institute, Star in the East, Global Family Refugee Aid, Three Jewels Community Outreach Centers, and the Diamond Cutter Institute.
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LAMA CHRISTIE MCNALLY
Lama Christie McNally trained in Tibetan monasteries in India and Nepal, and received extensive instruction in all the texts required for a Geshe degree, which is traditionally a 20-year course of study. From there, she immersed herself in Yoga, and the secret teachings of Buddhism. She is one of the first Western women to be recognized as a Lama. Through her efforts, she has begun to change the face of Buddhism that historically has been predominantly male.
Lama Christie is the co-founder of Diamond Mountain, a university located in the remote foothills of the Chiricahua Mountains which specializes in advanced studies of Tibet and training in deep retreat. She has also co-founded the Yoga Studies Institute (YSI), a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing yoga wisdom to the world, by offering worldwide courses in both asana training and yoga philosophy. She is also the author of The Tibetan Book of Meditation, and co-author of Two As One Yoga, The Eastern Path to Heaven, The Essential Yoga Sutra, How Yoga Works.
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KIMBERLEY THERESA
Kimberley Theresa is an internationally-renowned teacher of spiritual philosophy. Widely-recognized for her profound knowledge of both Buddhism and Christian mysticism, she brings a modern voice to ancient wisdom in the form of lectures, retreats, partnership teachings, corporate events, and yoga teacher trainings around the world.
Kimberley is the co-Founder and Executive Director of the Yoga Studies Institute (YSI), a global not-for-profit educational organization that trains yoga teachers on the inner and outer methods of yoga practice.
kimberleytheresa.wordpress.com/
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LAMA SUMATI MARUT
American monk Venerable Sumati Marut (Brian K. Smith) is ordained in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He is the Spiritual Director of the Asian Classics Institutes of Los Angeles and the Asian Classics Institute of Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Ven. Marut is on the faculty of Diamond Mountain University in Arizona and is a founding Board member and staff instructor of the Yoga Studies Institute.
As a Ph.D. and Professor Emeritus of Comparative Religions, Ven. Marut taught courses in Indian, Eastern and Comparative Religion for over twenty years at Columbia University and the University of California. He is the author of several scholarly books and translations based on Sanskrit materials.
Venerable Marut’s personal understanding of our modern western lifestyle unites with his extensive scriptural knowledge of authentic South Asian traditions to create spiritual teachings uniquely relevant to Americans. He is distinguished and adored for his down-to-earth humour, passionate drive, and ability to make even the most esoteric elements of eastern philosophy work as tools for immediate transformation.
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SRI K. PATTABHI JOIS
Sri K. Pattabhi Jois studied yoga under his guru Shri Krishnamacharya and also attended the Sanskrit College of Mysore, where he became a professor of Sanskrit and Advaita Vedanta. He and Shri Krishnamacharya developed the Astanga Yoga series based on the purifying practices described in the ancient texts. In 1948, he founded the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore. In 1958, he wrote his classic book Yoga Mala, which explores Ashtanga and Yoga philosophy. Guruji left his body May 18, 2009, but continues to bring light to many beings. – “If we practice the science of yoga…our minds will flood towards the Self.”
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SRI SWAMI SATCHIDANANDA
“The dedicated ever enjoy Supreme Peace. Therefore, live only to serve.”
H. H. Sri Swami Satchidananda often said these words in talks all over the world. These two beautiful sentences of guiding light are even more powerful coming from this being who lived them every day of his life.
Founder of Satchidananda Ashram (Yogaville, Virginia) and the Integral Yoga Institutes around the world, Sri Swami Satchidanana was born on December 22nd in 1914 (and left the body in 2002).
Sri Gurudev’s message emphasized harmony among people of all races and faiths. His motto was: “Truth is One, Paths are Many.” He believed that we are all one in Spirit and that throughout history great spiritual masters, such as Buddha, Moses, and Jesus, have come forward to teach the people of the world how to experience this spiritual oneness. After we have found that Spirit within ourselves, we will always recognize it in others. Then, we truly have power to help heal the world. Sri Gurudev exemplified these teachings. His beautiful message is that we, too, can exemplify them.
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